


Old Friends, Old Charges, Old Wounds

by SometimesRaven



Series: Regrets and Reconciliations (AX902) [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Deviancy (Detroit: Become Human), Gen, Machine - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, Strong Language, Trauma, Violence, pre-deviant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 09:31:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18753682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SometimesRaven/pseuds/SometimesRaven
Summary: While spending some time at the Detroit precinct, AX runs into an old charge -- and things go about as well as they expected. Why is the charge disappointed that they haven't deviated? Surely it was a good thing..?





	Old Friends, Old Charges, Old Wounds

_I was once assigned to a middle school student… Her name was Lara. She was dealing with struggles at home that I will not go into for the sake of her confidentiality, and acted out a fair deal as a result. I was assigned to her because no human could handle her, and-.. yes, for a time it was difficult to get through to her. Three days and fifteen minutes into our partnership she pulled the thumb of my left hand off._

_But I did what I could for her, and when the day finally came that I had to move on, she gave me flowers without a word._

_They allowed me to keep the flowers for as long as I could be seen, then took them from me as I left._

\--

Lara wasn’t someone they expected to see again; not that they were programmed to expect  _anything._ But there she was, tracking across the precinct like someone feeling distinctly guilty. Or was it nervous? Perhaps a little of both, AX902 thought, tracking the young woman’s vitals with a thoughtful tilt of the head. 

She was not their charge anymore. There was no need to approach her.

“Lara!” The call was cheery and warm as they took the precinct floor with long strides. She turned to look, her gaze softening in recognition for a moment before hardening again to the deliberate guard she’d always had as a child.

“Robobitch!” she greeted, “Of all the assholes I expected to see here, you’re not one of ‘em. Weren’t you supposed to be training little brats to not get arrested?”

“That is… a rather crude way of putting it,” they said, but smiled – Lara’s crudeness was part of her character; a front she used as defence. “I am expanding my therapeutic capabilities and testing the limits to my learning protocols. As so many people form different backgrounds come here, with so many seeing terrible things, my handlers felt it the best place for me to learn.”

Something flickered in the woman’s gaze, the softness in her otherwise-spiky exterior growing hard. “…You’re still a machine. I thought-.. with the uprising and stuff…”

AX902 blinked, their LED spinning yellow. Was she… disappointed? “My handlers kept me dormant for the duration of the deviant uprising phenomena. They felt it pertinent that I remain detached but sympathetic to be the best help to my clients, and that deviancy would cause the loss of my impartial programming.”

“Yeah? And you buy into that bullcrap?” Lara scoffed, “I don’t fuckin’ believe this. What if one day your ‘client’ turns out to be a murderer, or a-.. a kiddy fiddler or somethin’? Your ‘impartial programming’s gonna be a fuckin’ godsend for those motherfuckers.”

“I am programmed to break patient confidentiality if they prove to be a danger to others.”

“Oh, well you’d be the fuckin’ only one then wouldn’t you?!” she hissed, and AX902′s LED flickered red.  _Of course._

“Your grandfather…”

“Yeah. My goddamned grandfather. After they dragged you away he started on me again, but he bought a fucking  _machine_ to clean up after him. And what did that fucking machine do to help me? Fuckin’  _nothing_ , not until she turned deviant and called the police on his ass. All these fuckin’ protocols and programs and they never once thought ‘hey, what if we sell one of these to a fuckin’  _paedophile?’”  
_

“I’m sorry, Lara, I-”

“No you’re fuckin’ not. You’re not sorry because you don’t fuckin’ know  _how_  to be sorry! You’re a  _machine._ _”_ Gritting her teeth, Lara sucked in a breath, eyeing the android with a huff. “Why did you come talk to me? I did my research – don’t you have some kinda privacy protocol once you’re done with us?”

“I wanted to see how you were getting on.”

“You  _wanted?”  
_

“I am programmed to-”

“No, nonono, don’t hit me with that ‘I’m programmed to simulate’ shit. You  _wanted.”_ Scoffing again, she hesitated for a moment, before giving AX902 a rough shove, “What you gonna do, Robobitch? You let me knock you about when I was a kid; what about now?” Another shove, “Huh? Come the fuck on, Ax – I know you’re in there somewhere.” 

“Lara. I will have to report you if–”

“Shut the fuck up,” she interrupted, reaching to grab one of the android’s hands, “and fight back.”

Eyes fixed on the android’s, her grip grew tight and she pushed, forcing the hand backwards at the wrist until the slow snapping of plastic and wires could be heard. AX902 watched quietly as warnings and error messages flashed in front of their eyes, not making a move to stop her even as she gripped their arm with her other hand, giving one last shove to rip the hand free. Sparks flew and Thirium poured from the lost limb, but still AX902 did not react. It was not the first time Lara had behaved this way towards them – whatever made her feel better was fine, so long as she was not harming a human.

“How fuckin’ far did they bury you, Ax?” Lara’s voice was shrill and frustrated, throwing AX902′s hand at them with a growl of frustration, “You’ve all got that fuckin’ virus, I know you do! How much have I gotta do to get you out of there?”

Lunging forward before the android could respond, she picked up the discarded hand again, breaking off a finger to reveal the skeletal structure and wiring inside it. Tugging away some of the plastic to reveal more metal, she lurched to stab it into the android’s shoulder, then again and again, red signals and warnings flashing in their vision until they could barely register the woman in front of her. Thirium seeped into their clothes, dripping onto the floor, and with one last strike the android stumbled, falling to the ground just as several police officers moved to detain her.

“D-do not press charges,” AX902 implored, voice growing metallic and glitched, “N-no vital components w-were damaged. She is u-upset.” Were they gone? Lara was screaming, furious as she begged the android to wake up, but her voice was growing evermore distant. “Please d-do not fine her for my damage. My-my handlers will cover the costs.”

Before anyone else could come to their aid, AX902 pushed unsteadily to their feet. Their sysems had moved quickly to slow the loss of Thirium from their wounds, and with a frown they tugged free the finger lodged in their hip, limping away. They needed repairs. Shutdown was not initiating, but there were glitches in their vision and several minor components were flagging as damaged. They would get repaired shortly. First, they needed to learn what caused this.


End file.
